What are the Mental Health Needs of Adolescents in Rural South Australia? The Perceptions of Human Service Providers

BACKGROUND:Up to 20% of Australian adolescents experience the burden of having a mental health problem. Priorresearch has suggested that inhabitants of rural areas are at particular risk of mental healthmorbidity due to their location. The current study sought to investigate how ‘rurality’ influences themental health of adolescents in rural South Australia, and to explore the perceptions of the mentalhealth needs of adolescents as described by service providers in rural South Australia.METHODS:Four focus group discussions and 14 interviews were conducted with 38 human (allied health) serviceproviders in the Eyre Peninsula, Spencer Gulf, Limestone Coast and Greater Green Triangle regions ofSouth Australia. Semi-structured telephone interviews were also conducted with three Victorianhuman service providers. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed to identify emergentthemes.RESULTS:Ninety codes were developed and subsequently categorised into five major themes: Community andSociety Factors; Youth Issues, Indigeneity; Service Delivery and Utilisation; and Occupational Factors.Significant gaps in mental health service delivery were identified. Better utilisation of currentresources was identified as a greater concern than the absence of resources per se.CONCLUSIONS:This study provided a unique opportunity for rural allied and primary health care service providers todiscuss adolescent mental health issues in their communities and as part of their work. The datagenerated by these discussions identified areas where practice could be improved.